Small Stove for Living Room

[swamp_fist]

Hi, I've been reading up on all the factors that go into stove decisions, and it's a lot to balance. Here are the relevant factors I'm trying to balance. Forgive me if I provide too much info, but I figure it's all relevant:

I'm looking for a small (50,000 BTU or less ) wood burning stove for my living room.

Living room is 14 x 14, standard 8' ceilings. There are two doorways and a single rectangular window in the wall between the living room and kitchen/dining room of slightly larger size for a combined space of approx. 500 sq ft.

Space described is at one end of house, and the rest of the house branches off a central hallway, likely limiting heat benefits to bedrooms/bathrooms.

I live in North Carolina, so winters are mild with only a few deep freezes per year. I plan to use only the wood stove on milder months (and space heater in bedroom), and supplement with central heat set low (55F) on colder nights.

I'm hoping an EPA stove will allow me to do most if not all my winter heating from piles of tree branch trimmings I end up with every fall (fast growing non-pine varieties, such as Crepe Myrtles, Wax Myrtles, Redbud, and Holly). From my understanding, an EPA stove has less clean-out needs. I understand I'll need to get a one year lead time on my wood to make sure it's dry.

There's not much thermal mass inside my home, it's a crawlspace design - though I could line the wall behind the stove with 1/4 brick or stone veneer to bump the nearby mass up a smidgen.

Too much info? Not enough? Are my goals realistic?

 

[begreen]

Supplemental heating should work, 24/7 heating could be a challenge due to the small room size unless the openings to the kitchen and hallway are large enough to permit decent heat migration. A nice, affordable small supplemental heater would be the Englander 17VL. It has a small firebox, so reloads every few hours would be normal, but that might be ok. If you go larger you may need to increase heat circulation with fans. Another option is to get a catalytic stove that can run longer at a low setting, but it will cost a lot more.

Regardless of stove choice, a modern EPA stove needs dry wood to burn and decent draft. Most EPA stoves need about 15' total flue height to work properly. Local scrounge wood is fine as long as it's seasoned. Holly is very dense and needs a couple years after it is split. Small 3-4" branch rounds may take longer to dry than if they are split in half. Pine is fine as long as it too is allowed to thoroughly dry out.

 

[swamp_fist]

Thanks for the response, that Englander 17VL looks like it would fit the bill functionally but my wife gave it the thumbs-down for aesthetics. Looking at the same size range, would the Horse Flame 905U work just as well? That one got the appearance nod out of several other small models I brought up.

P.S. I'm mounting along an exterior wall, so I'd prefer a stove with fresh air intake option.

 

[begreen]

Looking at the same size range, would the Horse Flame 905U work just as well? That one got the appearance nod out of several other small models I brought up.

That's a tiny .7 cu ft firebox on the 905. Takes 12" wood. It's also not on the Nov. 2017 EPA certified stove list so I am not sure how or if it is being sold in the states. I only see the 1.2 cu ft Horse Flame 517-HF listed. Amazon appears to have sellers for both models.
The Jotul F3CB is the same size and has a good track record. The Hampton H200 is similar.

 

[Manly]

The Jotul F3CB would be a good fit. I have a similar layout with my kitchen dining area being open to the family room where the stove is located, and a door way from the family room to the living room. We have been using our Jotul #3 for our primary heating source for the past 20 years. You won't find a nicer looking stove. They are a bit pricey these days, and not sure about the quality compared to our 21 year old stove. I have never had to replace a thing excluding gaskets. We burn about 3.5 cords of hardwood a year.

 

[swamp_fist]

She does like the look of the Jotul F3CB, as well as the Hampton H200. Looking at some reviews, it appears the Jotuls made today may not be the same as the Jotuls made 10 or 20 years ago. Of course, the 17VL is cheaper by a wide margin and gets rave reviews over its performance so I may just need to expose my wife to more European styles until she warms to it.

Thanks for the input.